This repository contains the Dialog compiler and interactive debugger, bundled with documentation and the Dialog Standard Library.
| Item | Desc |
|---|---|
| Readme.md | This file |
| license.txt | License and disclaimer |
| src | Complete source code for the Dialog compiler and interactive debugger |
| prebuilt | Binaries for Linux, Mac, and Windows |
| docs | Documentation for the programming language and library |
| stdlib.dg | The Dialog standard library |
| stddebug.dg | The Dialog standard debugging extension |
| unit.dg | The Dialog unit testing library |
If you see a directory called "manual" instead of "docs", you're looking at the development repository itself rather than a bundled release. In this case, you'll have to build the binaries yourself.
(requires a C compiler and make):
cd src
make
(this will produce two executable files called dialogc and dgdebug)
(requires mingw32):
cd src
make dialogc.exe dgdebug.exe dgdebug_gui.exe
(requires https://github.com/webassembly/wasi-sdk):
make -C src dialogc.wasm dgdebug.wasm WASI_SDK=/path/to/wasi-sdk
wasmtime run --dir=. src/dialogc.wasm story.dg stdlib.dg
https://github.com/Dialog-IF/dialog/
Compiler: multiple definitions for the same style class or
metadata predicate (outside the library) now produce a warning.
Compiler: improved dictionary word matching accuracy.
Compiler: Improved ordering of strings in WRIT chunk, which
improves performance on slow platforms like 6502.
Debugger: fails more gracefully when given non-ASCII word
separators.
Documentation: Convert the repository readme to markdown.
Language: CSS text-decoration: reverse has been replaced with
-iftf-reverse-video: reverse for compatibility reasons.
Compiler: patched over a bug with non-ASCII word separators.
The problem isn't really fixed, but it will no longer corrupt
your game text.
Compiler: re-fixed the obscure bug with divs and spans inside
closures, which was previously only fixed for the debugger, not
for the compiler. Oops!
Compiler: better messages when adding resource files to an
.aastory file, on both success and failure
Backend: styles are now properly reset after printing a progress
bar inside a div on Z-machine. (Previously it would reset to
unstyled text, even if the div was bold or italic.)
Backend: fixed bug with hex colors (#ff8800) on Z-machine
causing problems for older interpreters.
Backend: colored spans inside (collect words) no longer corrupt
the stack on Z-machine.
Unit test runner: (game over) and (game over $) are
now overridden in unit.dg, to enable testing of win
conditions.
Documentation: even more has been added to chapter 12.
Distribution: Added WebAssembly targets (WASI Preview 1)
for dialogc and dgdebug. Requires WASI SDK to build.
Documentation: more has been added to chapter 12.
Library: incredibly trivial changes to make it easier to get
identical output across backends. Users are unlikely to ever
notice the difference.
Compiler: objects produced by (generate $ $) no longer have
author-accessible names, which could confuse the compiler.
Backend: --basic-zscii option disables extended ZSCII. This
leads to larger files and worse parsing, but may be needed for
older interpreters that don't support Unicode.
Debugger: fixed spurious spaces after input with --tag-lines.
Unit test runner: unit.dg now tells the author what the
fatal error was when it exits on a fatal error.
Library: fixed a bug where ASK FOR SOMETHING queried a random
closure before printing the error message.
Library: (heads $) is now consulted for topic objects.
Library: added DRINK FROM OBJ as a synonym of DRINK OBJ.
Language: added (at most once), which clears choice points once
the inner statement succeeds.
Compiler: (generate $ $) no longer triggers spurious warnings
with --warn-not-topic.
Compiler: fixed an obscure bug (#291) with divs and spans inside
closures.
Debugger: --transcripting option makes the (transcript active)
builtin succeed.
Debugger: --formatting option selects "default", "ansi", or
"none" formatting style.
Compiler: previously, constant lists in rule heads were compiled
in a way that was very fast at runtime, but could crash if the
lists were too large. Now, large (> 10 entries) constant lists
are compiled the same way as constant lists in rule bodies,
which is slower but has no limit on size.
Debugger: pressing Ctrl-D at a [more] prompt closes the program.
Compiler: predicates that are queried but not defined will now
include a line number in the compiler warning. This was always
supposed to be the case, but was bugged.
Backend: (inline status bar $) will now produce a line break on
Z-machine. It's unclear whether this was Linus's intent, but it
matches both the Node and 6502 Å-machine interpreters, so the
Z-machine has been updated for consistency.
Unit test runner: unit.dg has been redesigned. Unit tests
written against the version from 1b/01 will need to be
rewritten along the lines of time-tests.dg in the test/unit
directory. (It was just released, so we don't expect many --
or any -- tests to have been written against the old version.)
Due to new built-in predicates in this release, all projects
compiled for Å-machine will need version 1.0.0 or later of the
Å-machine tools. Get them from github.com/Dialog-IF/aamachine/.
Note that the debugger will now use the terminal on Windows,
rather than opening its own graphical window. To get the old
behavior, run dgdebug_gui.exe instead of dgdebug.exe.
Language: deprecated display:none; on spans. This remains legal,
but will produce a warning.
Language: added (body style $) and (reset body style).
Language: added (quit $), to let unit.dg tests cause make to
fail when they fail.
Language: added (clear status bar).
Language: new escape syntax \x{3C4} is equivalent to the Unicode
character U+03C4.
Language: added (transcript active).
Language: added a way to test for basic style support, basic
color support, and text alignment support.
Distribution: introduced a terminal version of the debugger on
Windows, equivalent to the Mac and Linux versions.
Distribution: added unit.dg, a library for unit testing.
Distribution: updated the license to more closely match Linus's
original intent.
Documentation: the library reference now includes special syntax
like (elseif), (now), and (global variable $).
Documentation: the syntax reference now includes cross-references
to where each piece of syntax is explained.
Documentation: the @tree and @dynamic debugging commands are now
properly documented, though they've existed for some time.
Compiler: fixed an obscure bug that's difficult to describe
concisely. See report #204 for details.
Compiler: warnings and errors about missing IFIDs will now
generate a new IFID to use, if possible.
Compiler: access predicates consisting of a single multi-query
no longer crash the compiler when negated.
Compiler: (accumulate $) into a constant value no longer crashes
the compiler on Å-machine.
Compiler: a new --override-serial option makes builds reproducible
by overriding the release date and serial number fields. This is
not recommended, but occasionally necessary.
Compiler: --word-seps option can change which characters are
considered word separators (by default . , ; ( ) " * )
Backend: added a workaround for an interpreter bug involving
colors after a restart.
Backend: improved text compression on Z-machine (at least for
programs written in English), reducing text size by about 18%.
This will help larger programs fit within the Z-machine's limits.
Backend: a new --optimize-alphabet option improves dictionary
word resolution on Z-machine for non-English writing systems.
Previously, words in Greek or Russian could have as few as two
characters in the essential part; this raises it to 9.
Backend: incremented the Å-machine version. Like with Dialog,
major version 0 is left for Linus's use, while the community-
maintained version starts with major version 1.
Backend: new diagnostics show how many of the Z-machine's
registers are being used, and for what purposes.
Backend: (uppercase) now works with non-ASCII characters on the
Z-machine backend.
Backend: (current div width $) and (current div height $) are now
supported on Å-machine. The predicates will still fail if the
interpreter cannot provide the information.
Backend: Å-machine backend now reports when non-ASCII characters
are added to the character set.
Debugger: now supports color and background-color style class
properties in a very minimal way.
Debugger: --width -1 disables word wrapping, for piping to other
programs.
Debugger: --no-header option suppresses version information, for
the same reason.
Debugger: --height option allows forcing a terminal height; -1
means infinite. New @more and @nomore debugging commands can
change this at run-time.
Debugger: --tag-lines option explicitly marks requests for key
and line input, for the same reason.
Debugger: now tags fixed-width text with an ANSI escape sequence.
Debugger: terminal width will now be measured immediately after
launching.
Debugger: --unit-test option is equivalent to --no-header
--no-warn-not-topic --quit --height=-1, but much shorter
to type.
Debugger: fixed bug when a link target contains unknown words.
Library: actions [shout] and [shout to $] have been removed. Now
SHOUT asks for clarification and SHOUT TO X maps to [call #X].
[call (current player $)] has a new failure message.
Library: new commands SUPERBRIEF, BRIEF, VERBOSE, and SUPERVERBOSE
change how rooms are described while going. The default behavior
is VERBOSE: rooms are described in full when moving one step at a
time, but abbreviated when travelling long distances.
Library: Transcript comments (commands starting with an asterisk)
now produce a warning if transcripting is not active.
Library: added (tagged name $).
Library: the default response to hugging or kissing a person
previously said that they were unmoved by your display of affection.
Now it instead says that they don't seem receptive, and thus you
don't actually hug or kiss them at all.
This is the first release handled by the community, and per
Linus's wishes, we're bumping the major version for the first
time! We're also taking this opportunity to unify the version
numbers between the compiler, library, and manual.
Backend: color and background-color properties are now supported
on Z-machine backend.
Backend: display:none is now tentatively supported on Z-machine
backend, though spacing it properly can be difficult.
Backend: styles can be stacked on Z-machine backend, allowing
for (for example) bold italics, or monospace reverse-video.
Spans are also allowed inside status bars as a result.
Backend: fixed a bug that would crash the Z-machine if too many
dictionary words were included in a wordmap, pushing the
wordmap datatables past address $8000.
Backend: lists containing punctuation marks will now print with
proper spacing on Z-machine during tracing.
Backend: Unicode characters are now allowed in dictionary words
on Z-machine backend.
Backend: generated Å-machine files now include the names of
style classes instead of only the numbers, which interpreters
may use to improve their output.
Backend: resources can no include option strings on Å-machine
backend; the meaning of these is left to the interpreter.
Backend: the Z-machine backend can more effectively calculate
the screen dimensions, even in certain buggy interpreters.
Debugger: a new --numbered option shows the depth of the call
stack with numbers instead of graphics during tracing. This
makes the output significantly easier to understand with a
screen reader.
Language: fixed a bug when unifying a list containing multiple
instances of a new variable, like ($Y = [$X $X]).
Language: inline style predicates like (bold) are now deprecated.
They're still supported for now, but may be removed in a future
release.
Language: new (current div width), (current div height), and
(status bar $ with height $) predicates allow better control of
status bar layout on Z-machine.
Compiler: the compiler now shows how close a project is to
various limits, both backend-specific (like addressable memory
on the Z-machine) and universal (the compiler architecture
imposes a limit of $1e00 objects on any backend).
Compiler: the compiler now accepts JPEG files as well as PNG
files for cover art.
Compiler: in projects that include a library, objects used in
rules but never declared as topics (the * syntax) will produce
a warning. This can be disabled on the command line.
Library: a new (gender-neutral $) trait will use the pronoun
"they", but without forcing plural verb endings as (plural $)
does.
Library: serial commas in phrases like GET X, Y, AND Z are now
properly understood. Previously, this would be parsed as GET X
followed by TELL Y TO AND Z, which would generally produce an
error.
Library: "meta" text (that is, text like "enabling score
notifications" that comes from the program itself, rather than
from the game) is now always wrapped in a (div @meta), which
the author is free to style as they like.
Library: the program will backtrack to free heap memory before
the final question, so that complicated parsing or status bars
will no longer cause an overflow.
Library: a new (startup) predicate is exhausted before printing
the (intro). Library extensions can use this for computations
that need to run at the start of play.
Library: a default (appearance $) rule for pristine objects
delegates to (initial appearance $), if defined.
Library: Changed how darkness is handled: Unlit objects are now
reachable, and a #darkness object is added to the scope.
Updated the visibility, reachability, and scope rules
accordingly.
Library: Added support for clothes worn underneath other
clothes. Updated the visibility, reachability, and scope rules
accordingly.
Library: Added '(wearing $ removes $)', '(wearing $ covers $)',
and '($ goes underneath $)' for specifying how wearable objects
interact with each other.
Library: '(look $)' now falls back on '(descr $)' by default.
Library: Searching animate objects is now prevented by default.
Compiler: Improved typo detection. A warning is printed for
each predicate that appears in just one of the following roles:
As a rule definition, as a query, and as an interface
declaration.
Compiler: Don't include the standard library in the total
linecount when deciding whether to warn about missing metadata.
Aa-backend: Print a better error message when the output isn't
a regular file.
Documentation: Updated the section on light and darkness.
Updated the section on reachability, visibility, and scope.
Added a section about clothing.
Documentation: Added a note about how the compiler looks for
'(library version)' to identify the library.
Library: SWITCH now only redirects to SWITCH ON if the object
is switchable (and off).
Library: EXITS now properly prints the name of an inherently
dark room that is lit up by an object.
Library: The output of '(list objects $ $)' no longer includes
the current player.
Library: Cleaned up the grammar rules to avoid ambiguous
parsing of e.g. GET OUT as both '[leave]' and '[leave $]'.
Library: Added PROFFER as a synonym for GIVE.
Library: Added HEY as a synonym for GREET.
Library: Asterisk-prefixed input is now consistently ignored,
also when typed in response to disambiguation questions and in
the game-over menu.
Compiler: Improved the code for detecting cyclic access
predicates.
Debugger: Improved the algorithm for matching select statements
when updating a running program.
Debugger: Fixed an inconsistency in the interaction between
'(uppercase)' and hyperlinks.
Manual: Added clarifications on how to use '(plural name $)'
and '(plural dict $)' and fixed the corresponding example in
the section on identical objects.
Manual: Miscellaneous improvements to Part I.
Language: Added '(clear old)' to clear, from the main area, any
text that the player has had a chance to read. Interpreters may
ignore it.
Language: Added '(clear div)' to clear, hide, or fold away the
current div. Interpreters may ignore it.
Language: Added '(inline status bar $) ...' for redirecting
output to a separate status area that appears as an ordinary
div inside the main area. The inline status bar is removed from
display when a new one appears. Interpreters do not have to
support status areas.
Language: Added '(interpreter supports status bar)' and
'(interpreter supports inline status bar)' to check for these
features at runtime.
Library: Certain actions (commands and '[inventory]' by
default) now preserve the current implicit action as set up by
'(asking for object in $)' or '(asking for direction in $)'.
Library: The definition of takable has changed so that TAKE ALL
no longer includes items inside a held container.
Library: Changed '(narrate undoing)' to '(narrate undoing $)',
where the parameter is the player input being undone, as a list
of words. The default rule prints this.
Library: Now uses noun heads to disambiguate when the grammar
calls for any object (e.g. for FIND).
Library: Close doors before locking them.
Library: Fixed a bug that affected EXCEPT/BUT when parsing
lists of objects.
Library: Added '[takable child]' grammar token, used for TAKE
ALL FROM.
Library: It is now deemed unlikely to put something where it
already is.
Library: Refactored some rules, e.g. '(location headline)'.
Frontend: Don't report more than ten interface violation
warnings.
Frontend: Increased maximum size of word-to-object maps.
All backends: '(split word $ into $)' and '(get key $)' now
return digits as numbers.
Z-backend: Unicode bullet falls back on '*'.
Aa-backend: Improved performance thanks to new Aa-machine 0.5
features.
(There is no language version 0l, for reasons of typography.)
Library: Added a default perform-rule saying "You can't"
followed by the action description. No more blank responses.
Library: Changed '($ is opaque)' to '(opaque $)' and removed
the alias '($ is transparent)'.
Library: Changed the output of "exits" to make compass
directions clickable if library links are enabled, and to use
"the" instead of "a" for doors.
Library: No longer understands "open" as any open object when
default actions are enabled. This prevents "open door" from
being ambiguously understood as '[open #door]' and '[examine
#door]' when the door is open.
Library: Added "hug" as a separate action from "kiss". Hug
redirects to kiss by default, for backwards compatibility.
Library: The default rules for NPC actions, '(let $NPC ...)',
now invoke '(notice $NPC)' to set the pronouns.
Library: Make object names clickable when enumerating a complex
action (if library links are enabled).
Library: When printing a group of fungible objects with
'(the $)', don't create a hyperlink.
Library: Prevent cycles in the object tree when the player
attempts to pick up an object that is their ancestor, such as a
seat.
Library: The default rules for climb and enter now use
'(move player to $ $)'.
Library: No longer redraws the status bar twice when flowing
between nodes in choice mode.
Library: Miscellaneous bugfixes and optimizations.
Debugger: Imposed a limit of 50 undo steps, to conserve memory.
Manual: Added a section about creating custom grammar tokens.
Manual: Updated an example in the Items chapter.
Library: Added support for group actions.
Library: The parser now deals properly with 'and' and ','
inside object names, so that e.g. 'take black and white
photograph' does not result in two separate attempts to take
the same object.
Library: '(The $)' and friends now list fungible objects with a
definite article, i.e. 'the N items' instead of 'N items'.
Library: Improved memory performance when working with fungible
objects.
Debugger: An informative message is printed when attempting to
display memory statistics from within the debugger.
Debugger: Fixed a bug that would occasionally crash the
debugger when querying a dynamic flag for a new object.
Compiler: Fixed a bug in the part of the optimizer that
converts predicates to static flags.
Z-backend: Now triggers a paragraph break after updating the
status bar, which is consistent with other backends.
Z-backend: Fixed a bug where '(no space)' would be ignored
immediately after a unicode character.
Z-backend: Fixed an off-by-one error in the progress bar.
Library: Fixed a bug where objects immediately inside a closed
opaque visibility ceiling weren't considered visible.
Library: Open a closed container before stepping out of it.
Library: Don't describe contents when opening a box from the inside.
Library: Added '(Its $)'.
Compiler: Warn if the last filename on the commandline does not
refer to a library, i.e. a file that defines a rule for
'(library version)'.
Compiler: Allow '(now)' together with a double-negated flag,
such as in '(now) ~($Obj is on)' when '@($ is on)' is an access
predicate for '~($ is off)'.
Debugger: Improved support for cursor keys in TTY driver.
Manual: Removed wrongly formatted CSS comments.
Library: Printing the name of each object when expanding a
complex action, rather than spelling out the entire action.
Library: Understanding DOWN, UP, and OUT as ambiguously
referring to '[leave $]' and '[go $]' when the player is
respectively on a supporter, in or on a seat, or in a
container.
Library: '(them $)' can now deal with a list argument.
Library: Allowing '(from $ go $ to room $)' to be invoked with
just the first parameter bound, to backtrack over all exits.
Library: '(perform [leave $])' now uses '(move player to $ $)'
instead of setting the location of the player object directly.
Library: Updating the environment around the player (the cache
variables) before drawing the status line.
Debugger: Reimplemented and simplified the algorithm for
matching select statements when updating a running program.
Debugger: No longer crashes when encountering output boxes
while collecting words.
Aa-backend: Picking shorter opcodes in some situations.
Compiler: Fixed a bug that prevented per-object variables from
being initialized to complex values.
0k/01, Lib 0.39 (Manual revision 24):
Language: Structural matching of access predicate heads.
Language: (accumulate $) ... (into $)
Language: Added builtin '(fully bound $)' to check if a value
is bound and, in case of a list, contains only fully bound
elements.
Language: The '(split $ by $ into $ and $)' built-in predicate
now accepts a single keyword as its second parameter (or a list
of keywords, as before).
Language: The character '+' may now be used in the source-code
names of objects and local variables.
Language: Added special keypress words @\u, @\d, @\l, @\r, @\n,
@\s, and @\b. Removed '(word representing up $)' and friends.
Library: Simplified grammar rules, i.e. '(grammar $ for $)' as
a complement to '(understand $ as $)'.
Library: Remove duplicates from the list of choices in
choice-mode.
Library: Added intermediate action [switch $] that delegates to
[switch on $] or [switch off $].
Library: Relation objects (#on etc.) no longer have dictionary
words. They appear directly inside action grammar rules
instead, e.g. [put [held] on/onto [single]].
Manual: Rewrote large parts of "Understanding player input".
Manual: Clarified the use of conditional labels in choice mode.
Manual: Reorganized some material, e.g. Debugging has moved to
the "Input and output" chapter, and '(spell out $)' is now
under "Miscellaneous features".
Compiler: Bugfixes and improvements to the optimizer.
Library: Undo is performed as an action, [undo], and reported
via '(narrate undoing)'. It is still parsed as a special case.
Library: When the player types an object name in response to a
direct question (e.g. "To whom?"), don't understand it as a
request to perform the default action (e.g. examine).
Compiler: Fixed a bug that disallowed @-prefixed words in
slash-expressions.
Compiler: Several improvements to the optimizer.
Library: Choice mode.
Library: Added hooks that are queried early and late on every
tick.
Library: Undo now operates at the level of commandlines, rather
than complex actions. "UNDO" must now be typed on a line of its
own, but behaves in a less surprising way.
Library: Before entering a closed container, try opening it.
Compiler: Fixed rare bug related to variables bound inside
if-statements.
Compiler: Minor optimization of collect-into.
Debugger: Removed spurious blank line when entering a status
bar environment.
Debugger: Removed stray warnings about singleton variables when
merging changes to the running program.
Library: Visibility is now recomputed after updating the
current room variable and moving any floating objects.
Language: '(link)' can now be followed by any kind of
statement, not just a plain list of words.
Language: A new builtin, '(clear links)', turns old hyperlinks
into plain text, which is useful when the scope changes
drastically, e.g. when moving to a different room.
Language: Added spans as an inline complement to divs.
Language: There are new builtins for splitting and joining
words, and for checking if a word is listed in the game
dictionary.
Language: The word-separating characters are now ". , ; * ( )"
and double-quote. These characters are treated as individual
words during input parsing, and from now on also during
'(collect words)' operations, even when they appear as part of
larger words in the source code. When these single-character
words are printed back as values, whitespace is inhibited
before ". , ; )" and after "(".
Language: '(append $A $B $AB)' is now built into the language,
rather than defined by the library, for performance reasons.
Language: Added support for interface declarations.
Library: Added OOPS command, for fixing typos.
Library: Fixed a bug in how reachability is determined.
Library: Fixed a bug where understand-as-any-object didn't take
the specified policy into account.
Compiler: Added warnings about singleton variables.
Compiler: Improved ability to trace unbound values, and warn
about potential interface violations.
Aa-backend: Improved performance thanks to new Aa-machine 0.4
features.
Manual: Moved the section about the pristineness of nested
objects to the end of the Items chapter.
Compiler: Fixed a bug where, under very specific circumstances,
a register could get overwritten by an else-clause.
Aa-backend: Fixed a bug where text containing non-ASCII
characters would occasionally be converted to lowercase.
Debugger: Fixed a bug in how UTF-8 input is divided into words.
Manual: Added a clarification about the pristineness of nested
objects, including the initial possessions of the player.
Library: Fixed a bug in how the visibility ceiling was
computed.
Debugger: Removed spurious extra "Query succeeded" after each
interactive query. Proper reporting of interactive queries to
access predicates.
Manual: Added missing multi-query asterisks to the fungibility
examples.
Language: The initial values for ($ has parent $) are derived
from a compile-time multi-query.
Language: New syntax: (link) { ... } for simple lists of words.
Language: (log) { ... } for printing text in a different
colour, and only when running in the interactive debugger.
Library: The library defines no rewrite-rules anymore.
Library: Short form of appearance, '(appearance $)'. Objects
are noticed if the appearance predicate is queried succesfully.
Library: New standard action: '[talk to $Obj about $Topic]'.
Ask/tell redirect to it by default, and it in turn redirects to
'[talk to $Obj]' by default.
Library: Added '(list objects $ $)'.
Library: Fixed several cases of a hardcoded "is" where
plural-sensitivity was required.
Library: Rewrote some of the code dealing with unlikely
actions.
Library: Facilities for implementing moving NPCs.
Library: Topic objects. The unrecognized topic.
Library: Added '(after $)' stage to action handling.
Library: Disallow taking other people's clothing and
possessions.
Library: Narration callbacks for holding or wearing nothing.
Library: New predicates for understanding words as any object
(which must be located in a visited room, and not marked as
hidden).
Library: Made it possible to use '(from $ go $ to room $)'
backwards, i.e. to specify the current and neighbouring rooms,
and obtain the direction.
Library: Adverbs for directions (e.g. above/below), and a
predicate for obtaining the opposite of a direction.
Library: Utility predicate to select a random element from a
list.
Library: Hook for inserting additional banner text.
Library: Disambiguation will consider '(dict $)' synonyms.
Library: Refinements to the path-finding algorithm. Added
'(first step from $ to $ is $)', for when the complete path
isn't needed.
Manual: Documentation of the new library features, including a
new NPC chapter.
Manual: Brief mention of the Aa-machine 6502 interpreter, and
an updated chart in the Software chapter.
Z-backend: Now correctly enables auto-whitespace after a word
that ends with a unicode character.
Debugger: Properly deals with Delete and some other special
keys.
Library: Rewrote shortest-path algorithm to reduce memory
footprint.
Library: Reduced heap usage during nested disambiguation
questions.
Compiler: Improved information about unbound variables in -vvv
output.
Compiler: Added support for '(now) ~($ has parent $)', for
completeness.
Compiler: Reduced temporary register usage. Added a check to
report an error if we're running out of registers.
Compiler: Improved optimization of if-statements.
Compiler: Fixed additional corner-case bugs discovered through
fuzzing.
Z-backend: Allows dynamic predicates to be unset for
non-objects (nothing happens).
Aa-backend: Generates smaller and faster code.
Aa-backend: Collecting into a value (e.g. a list expression)
now works properly.
Aa-backend: Fixed a compiler error due to e.g. '(#a = $X)'.
Debugger: Allows dynamic predicates to be unset for non-objects
(nothing happens).
Debugger: Now handles auxiliary heap overflow gracefully.
Debugger: Correct handling of undo inside div, e.g. from the
runtime error handler.
Debugger: Fixed a bug related to single-digit input.
Compiler: No longer crashes when trying to generate a zblorb
that lacks certain metadata.
Debugger: Results from interactive queries to *(split $ by $
into $ and $) are displayed properly.
Debugger: Attempts to define closures interactively are
rejected, but no longer crash.
Aa-backend: Improved code generation.
Language: Added support for resources, such as pictures and
external links. This includes two new syntactic elements,
'(define resource $)' and '(link resource $)', and two built-in
predicates, '(embed resource $)' and '(interpreter can
embed $)'. This feature is primarily intended for use with the
aa-machine backend.
Language: Added runtime check '(interpreter supports quit)'.
Library: The game-over menu is displayed differently, and the
'quit' item only appears if '(interpreter supports quit)'
succeeds. The normal 'quit' verb is still handled as before.
Library: In the before-rules for eating and drinking, only
attempt to pick up the indicated object if it is edible or
potable.
Library: Treat "X, tell me about Y" as "ask X about Y".
Library: Fixed a bug where '(describe topic $)' couldn't deal
with ambiguity.
Compiler: Fixed a bug related to the optimization of nested
disjunctions.
Library and documentation: Added '(heads $)'.
Debugger: Commandline option -L to disable hyperlinks in the
output. This also affects '(interpreter supports links)'.
Aa-backend: Now obeys the -s option for stripping away internal
object names (hash tags) from the story file.
Compiler: The quadruple-verbose output (-vvvv) now includes a
list of all the words the story might print. With a bit of
scripting, these can be sent to an external spell checker.
Compiler: Fixed a bug where '(determine object $)' didn't
accept integers in the input.
Library: If parsing fails when default actions are enabled,
don't assume that a default action was intended.
Compiler: Fixed several corner-case bugs discovered through
fuzzing.
Debugger and aa-machine backend: Improved support for Unicode
characters, including case conversion.
Aa-backend bugfix: Non-ASCII characters are now treated
properly during string encoding.
Library: Added a new '(game over option)' predicate, for adding
custom options to the game over menu.
Compiler: Rephrased a confusing warning message.
Documentation: Clarifications and minor updates.
Z-machine backend: Added support for selecting the fixed-width
font using CSS (font-family: monospace).
Compiler bugfix: '(determine object $)' would sometimes return
the same object twice.
Debugger bugfix: '(uppercase)' followed by '(link $)' now works
correctly.
Z-machine backend: Bugfix in '(progress bar $ of $)'.
Documentation: Minor updates.
Re-release of 0g/01, including several files that were missing.
Compiler: Aa-machine backend. Hyperlinks.
Library: Hyperlink-related features.
When parsing commands to a non-player character, understand
nouns based on their relation to the actor rather than the
player.
Documentation: Added predicate index. Various minor
improvements and clarifications.
Library: Style class definitions use em and ch properly.
Library bugfix: With fungibility enabled, under certain
circumstances, object appearances didn't get printed.
Z-machine backend: ASCII fallbacks for en-dash, em-dash, and
three kinds of fancy quotes.
Bugfix: Removed a case where the Z-machine backend would
attempt to set an undefined style bit.
Debugger: Fixed crashing bug when hot-reloading code with
closures.
Bugfix related to certain if-conditions.
Compiler: Fixed a bug in the Z-machine backend where, under
certain conditions, long dictionary words didn't get truncated
at compile-time.
Compiler: Fixed a bug that caused heavily nested conditional
expressions to compile very slowly.
Documentation: Removed two obsolete entries from the quick
reference.
Introduction of closures. Related changes in the standard
library.
Introduction of '(div $)' and style classes. Added '(unstyle)'.
Div-based control of the status bar area. Added '(progress bar
$ of $)'.
Removed built-in predicates: '(par $)', '(status bar width $)',
'(cursor to row $ column $)'.
Removed '(unbound $)'. Added '(bound $)' with opposite
semantics.
Corresponding changes to the documentation.
Bugfix: The transcript builtins are working again.
Minor bugfixes and optimizations.
Compiler: Internal restructuring and cleanup, as well as new
optimizations.
Library: Added '(them $)' for object pronouns (them, her, it,
and so on).
Debugger: Bugfix related to select and undo.
Library: In object-based disambiguation, the answer is now
matched against '(the full $)'.
Library: Object-based disambiguation can now be undone with a
single undo.
Library: Scope is now computed on the fly, whereas the current
visibility is represented with global variables. Query
'(recompute visibility)' to update them. The new representation
has better performance due to the changes in 0e/01.
Library: All objects around the perimeter of a room (not just
doors) are attracted to the room.
Library: Objects around the perimeter of a room are no longer
in scope if the player is unable to see them.
Bugfixes and performance improvements in the internals of
'(determine object $)'.
Bugfix related to certain multi-queries in tail position.
Bugfix: Reporting a number of syntax errors instead of
asserting.
Long-term heap for complex values stored in global and
per-object variables. Removed the syntax for declaring a global
variable with a maximum size.
Removed '(collect words) / (and check $)'. Added
'(determine object $) / (from words) / (matching all of $)'.
Added support for dictionary words with essential and optional
parts. Removed '(get raw input $)'.
Library: Removed '(print raw input $)'. Added '(print words $)'
and '(Print Words $)'. Adapted the parser to the new
'(determine object $)' syntax.
Various bugfixes in the debugger and compiler.
A couple of bugfixes in the debugger.
Introduced the Interactive Debugger, with corresponding
modifications to the documentation.
Added '(breakpoint)' built-in predicate.
Library: Added '(actions on)', '(actions off)', and '(scope)'
predicates to be queried from the debugger. The corresponding
player-accessible commands remain in the debugging extension.
Library: Modified the treatment of UNDO and AGAIN, to better
support the interactive debugger.
Library: Minor improvements.
Added '(print raw input $)'.
Added support for the .z5 output format.
Bugfix: '(uppercase)' now works properly with dictionary words.
Library: Improved a few default responses. Added '(narrate
failing to look $Dir)'.
Bugfix related to the allocation of a temporary register in a
'has parent' optimization.
Bugfix related to nested stoppable environments.
Library: Added a synonym ('toss' for 'throw').
Improved disambiguation: Now the library will ask the player to
choose from a list of objects, if that makes all the
difference. For more complicated situations, it falls back on a
numbered list of actions.
Miscellaneous compiler bugfixes.
Compiler bugfix related to '(status bar width $)'.
Added slash expressions, for specifying alternatives in rule
heads. In the standard library, most synonyms are now handled
directly by the understand-rules instead of being rewritten.
Added a mechanism for infinite loops, '(repeat forever)'.
Backends are no longer required to support tail-call
optimizations (the Z-machine backend still does, of course, but
a future debugging backend might not).
Added stemming support for non-English games. During parsing,
if a word isn't found in the dictionary, Dialog will attempt to
remove certain word endings (typically declared by the library)
and try again.
Made it possible to specify the initial values of complex
global variables.
Added built-in predicate '(interpreter supports undo)'. The
library can now avoid suggesting UNDO in the game over menu
when undo is not available.
Bugfix: FIND deals correctly with (not here $) objects.
Additional compiler optimizations.
Removed overly restrictive feature-test macros.
Bugfix: Made it possible to (try [look]) from within (intro).
Bugfix: Made it possible to drive vehicles from room to room.
This is the first public release of Dialog.
Dialog is currently in its beta stage, which means that the
language may still undergo significant changes. It also means
that you, dear potential story author, still have a substantial
chance to influence what those changes will be.
The source code for the compiler is currently rather messy, and
I'm planning a major clean-up. However, it should be portable,
and it works according to the language specification (as far as
I know).
Happy authoring!